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SAKHIR TEST - Day One 13 February 2006
Circuit : Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir - 5.417 km
Car : RB 1
Driver: Scott Speed
Laps: 82
Best time: 1:34.280
Apart from the obvious benefits of testing at the track that hosts this year's curtain raiser grand prix,
in terms of establishing optimum car set-up and tyre choice, the trip to Sakhir has provided the team
with its first taste of summer-style weather.
With an air temperature of 23 and the track passing the 30 degree mark, Scott Speed spent the
morning working on general set-up, looking at elements such as ride height and aero balance. "The
car ran well and it has been very useful to evaluate downforce levels and work out what level to use
in the race," commented Chief Engineer, Laurent Mekies. In the afternoon, Scott embarked on a
simulated race distance, including "live" pit stop with full fuel rig use. "Considering that we have
several new guys on the team, who have not worked together before, the pit stop went well,"
continued Mekies. "Unfortunately, Scott was unable to complete the race distance as the session
was red flagged when another car stopped on track. We are using the RB1 here because there was
no time to get the STR 1 here after its inaugural test in Jerez last week. STR 1 will be testing again
in Imola next week."
Tomorrow, it's Tonio Liuzzi's turn to tackle the desert track.
Comments
I expect a tirade from the Sawbones on this constant stream of lies.
Then they would have had the time to ship the new car to Sakhir for this weeks test.
Now that the new car is ready IMHO continuing testing the RBR1 is totally unacceptable !!!
Circuit : Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir - 5.417 km
Car : RB 1
Driver: Tonio Liuzzi
Laps: 70
Best time: 1:32.720
In the hard world of Formula One, there's not much room for love and affection and on this St.
Valentine's Day, the only sign of romance was the wheels of the cars kissing the kerbs as they sped
around the Sakhir circuit.
Liuzzi was in the cockpit today, although he was able to take an early bath as a gearbox problem
meant the RB1 was forced to miss just the final 90 minutes of the session. "Nevertheless, it was a
reasonable day with signs of performance gain and general progress," reckoned Chief Engineer,
Laurent Mekies. "As expected, the track was much cleaner than yesterday which allowed us to be
more precise in our set-up work. Also, track temperatures were much higher today which made for
a more realistic simulation of what we can expect for the race here in three weeks time, which is
particularly relevant as far as the tyres are concerned."
Tomorrow, Switzerland's Neel Jani, the team's 2006 "Friday only" driver, will have his first run in
RB1.
Thanks for the update James.